Economy prompts Straumann to reduce implant production

Dental implant supplier Straumann is cutting back on production of its implant products in an effort to align manufacturing with slower market growth, the company announced.

Throughout the past decade, Straumann has ramped up its global production capabilities to meet the strongly growing demand for dental implants worldwide, according to a press release. The company further expanded production capacity in the first half of this year to cater to what appeared to be continuing dynamic growth.

"As reported in October, the severity of the current economic situation has led to an unprecedented slowdown in the growth of the dental implant market," the company stated. "Although Straumann has continued to grow and outperform -- despite the challenging circumstances -- it is clear that its more recent expansion rate cannot support an organization that has been built up for significantly higher anticipated market growth."

As an immediate measure, Straumann said, it has initiated "the process of introducing short-time work in production." The duration of this initiative, and the possibility of further measures, will depend on market developments in the future, which are difficult to predict, the company added.